Collegiate and World U-20 record holder in 100-meter dash will race for first time since signing with Nike following memorable 10.75-second effort at NCAA Division 1 final

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

PALO ALTO – The Avery Aquatic Center is located on the opposite side of the Stanford campus in relationship to Cobb Track and Angell Field, but Sha’Carri Richardson knows that when it comes to making her professional debut Sunday at the Prefontaine Classic, the talented sprinter is being thrown into the deep end.

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Richardson, 19, is three weeks removed from setting collegiate and World U-20 records in the 100-meter dash by running a wind-legal 10.75 seconds at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas.

Since then, she decided to forgo her remaining three years of eligibility at LSU and signed a sponsorship deal with Nike. She already experienced her first travel delay as a pro athlete during her recent trip to Northern California.

“With this being my first meet, they’re basically throwing me in the water being a pro athlete,” Richardson said. “But I feel like it’s really going to develop me and show me the expectations of what it’s like to compete on this level and what I need to do for myself in order to be able to compete at this level.”

Another former LSU standout, Aleia Hobbs, made an impressive transition from winning an NCAA 100-meter title to capturing a USATF Outdoor Championship in her first pro meet.

But the three NCAA 100-meter winners prior to Richardson didn’t fare as well in their encore performances following the Division 1 championship meet.

LSU graduate Mikiah Brisco didn’t advance out of the preliminary heats in 2017 at the USATF Outdoor Championships, former Oregon standout Ariana Washington placed sixth in the 100 and fifth in the 200 at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and 2015 NCAA champion Jenna Prandini followed her victory for Oregon by placing sixth in the 100 at the U.S. final.

But Richardson appreciated being able to make such a significant career decision prior to competing Sunday and again at the USATF Championships, scheduled for July 25-28 in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I’m actually glad that happened before I came down here, so I wasn’t everywhere busy wise in my head,” Richardson said. “I would say (things returned to normal) probably a week ago if I’m being completely honest. From nationals all the way to last week, my life was just speeding, just busy, busy, busy. Within this past week, everything has felt normal, I was back on schedule, eating was back on schedule, training was back on schedule, so everything was aligned.”

Richardson and Texas star Teahna Daniels, fourth at the Division 1 final in 11.00 seconds, are among eight athletes who competed at the NCAA championship meet in Austin making their pro debuts Sunday, joining Oregon’s Cravon Gillespie (100) and Jessica Hull (1,500), Houston’s Kahmari Montgomery (400) and Amere Lattin (400 hurdles), Baylor’s Wil London III (400) and North Dakota State’s Payton Otterdahl (shot put).

Pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, another 19-year old who turned professional after one year at LSU, has already competed once at the Bislett Games in Norway before returning to the U.S. for the only Diamond League meet held in North America.

There are also five athletes still in college – reigning NCAA men’s pole vault champion Chris Nilsen of South Dakota, women’s cross country and 5,000 winner Dani Jones of Colorado (1,500), three-time 3,000 steeplechase champ Allie Ostrander of Boise State, 10,000 title holder Weini Kelati of New Mexico (3,000) plus Texas’ Jonathan Jones (400) – also scheduled to compete Sunday.

Richardson knows the challenges of racing against three other sub-11 performers in the 100 during the collegiate season has her ready to compete against the winners of the past three World Championship gold medals in American Tori Bowie (2017) and Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (2015 and 2013).

“College did a good job of preparing me for that,” Richardson said. “Even though in the pro world, you don’t run as much or travel as much. Now that it’s calmed down more, things are more set.

“I judge my body based on my workouts, and if my workouts make me feel like I’m good and if I’m doing what I need to do while I’m practicing, I know that when it comes time to race, I know I’m going to be able to develop and do what it is that I’ve been practicing all week and all month long in order to perform.”

Fraser-Pryce, who ran 10.73 on June 21 in the 100 at the Jamaican National Championships to finish second to Elaine Thompson (also timed in 10.73), is also looking forward to the challenge of racing against the rising talent of Richardson after squaring off against 17-year-old star of the future Briana Williams, who took third in Kingston in a national high school record 10.94.

“I was once the young athlete in the field competing, so I understand how passionate they are and how excited they are,” said the 32-year-old Fraser-Pryce, who ran under 10.75 for the seventh time in her career.

“You have so many sprinters right now who are working really hard and running really fast, so it forces you to kind of dig deeper and get as much as you can out of your workouts and your practices.”